Spring assembly for upholstery



Nov. 14, 1933. R. L. STEVENS SPRING ASSEMBLY FOR UPHOLSTERY led Jun 10.

1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVIENTOR Nov. 14, 1933. R STEVENS SPRING ASSEMBLY FOR UPHOLSTERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10 .TOZer/L. j/ezle s,

- J arr r era Patented Nov. 14, 1933 tries SPRING ASSEMBLY roe UPHOLSTERY poration of Michigan Application June 10, 1932. Serial No. 616,478

3 Claims.

The present invention pertains to a novel spring construction assembled of helical coiled springs arranged tangentially in rows and columns. The springs are enclosed individually in bags, although the bags in any given row are made or" one piece of material. The invention resides in the provision of stay wires mounted in a novel manner to maintain the general shape of the unit although allowing the necessary flexibility.

These wires are positioned between the rows or columns of the springs, or both, and extend preferably entirely across the unit. The ends of Reference to these views will now be made by use of like characters which are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout.

The unit illustrated in the drawings is assembled of individual cylindrical or helical springs 1, each of which is encased as at 2 in a tight fitting bag of suitable fabric. This type of incased spring is known in the art as the Marshall spring, and the manner of forming the bags is also well known.

The springs are arranged in rows and tangent to one another, while the springs of any given row are tangent to the springs of the adjacent row or rows.

It might be explained .that the bags for any given row are formed from a single piece of fabric wrapped around the row so that the ends meet and having its meeting edges stitched to gether while the material is drawn together between the springs and stitched in that condition. By this means, each row is maintained intact as a unit. In order to hold the rows together, the contacting springs thereof may be tied together @at the top and bottom coils by means of tie strings 3, if desired. Moreover, the adjacent springs of any row may be similarly tied together in order to relieve the stitching of some of the inter-spring strain.

The attaching means thus far described,

namely, the stitching and the tie strings, are rather flexible and a more rigid means is therefore desirable in order to maintain the general shape of the structure, although allowing it to yield in use. Such means consists of stay wires 4 inserted between the rows and preferably only between the intermediate rows. In other words, there is no such wire between each end row and the respectively adjacent intermediate rows, as shown in Fig. 1. Each wire is formed at each end with a loop 5 directed outwardly of the spring structure and embracing the opposed end coils ofthe end springs of the rows between which the wire lies. These wires are provided in the manner described, at both surfaces of the unit. At the upper surface, the loops 5 are directed upwardly, and. at the lower surfaces downwardly, so that the wires lie substantially inward of the upper and lower planes of the unit as shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

At one of the surfaceafor example, the lower surface, another set of similar wires 6 extends perpendicular to the wires .4, running between the springs of the adjacent rows except alongside the end springs. The wires 6 are similarly formed at their ends with outwardly directed loops '7 which embrace the surface coils of the springs at opposite sides thereof. If the wires 4 are assumed to lie between the rows, the wires 6 may be said to, lie between the 1 columns, although there is no material difference between a row and a column insofar as the mounting of the wires is concerned. The omission of wires along the outerrows and outer columns provides greater flexibility around the margins of the unit than in the interior, although the shape is maintained by the ends of the wires which reach to the outer rows and columns.

As will be understood, the loops 5 being of metal, form a substantial connection for the end springs of the two rows between which the stay wire 4 or 6 is located, the wire itself being between the springs at such point. As a result, the end springs are limited as to possible overlap movement in connection with the rows thus secured. As is seen from Fig. 4, the wires 4 are located below the ties 3, so that these wires are not bound at any points excepting at their ends, an advantage since the intermediate portions of the wires are free to move vertically between the intermediate spring pockets as the end springs are compressed by a sitter. In addition,-the arrangement enables the use of simple ties 3 for the intermediate rows, the relative rigidity of the end connections of the row, together with the presence of the stay itself, producing the desired result. Obviously, the loops 5 being made integral with the stay, no other means need be provided for securing the stays in position.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various alterations in the details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a spring unit assembly having its springs tangentially arranged in rows and columns with the springsindividually fabric-encased, adjacent springs being flexibly tied together, of stay wires disposed between intermediate rows of opposed casings, each wire lying intermediate the planes of the opposite ends of 

